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MELBOURNE: The Australian Labor Party in Queensland claimed it retained power in an election overshadowed by the coronavirus on Saturday (October 31), and voters backed the strict social distancing measures that have distanced the state from the national government.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk became the country’s first woman to win three terms, and with the count to continue on Sunday, Labor was on track to have as many as 49 seats in the 93-seat parliament, one more than the previous number.
Palaszczuk has adopted strict anti-virus controls, including the closure of state borders, which has caused friction with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who wants internal borders to be opened to boost economic recovery.
“Here in Queensland we have all stood firm and united,” Palaszczuk said in his victory speech. “We looked at the critics and we came out much better.”
The first major state elections during the coronavirus pandemic, following voting in two of Australia’s territories earlier this year, have been seen as a barometer of preferences on how to handle the pandemic.
Queensland, the third most populous state in the country with a population of around five million, has recorded just under 1,200 total coronavirus cases this year and six related deaths.
The election came after the state of Victoria ended most of its 111-day lockdown restrictions last week and a recent Ipsos poll commissioned by the Age and Nine News newspaper showed that Victorians supported the tough handling of the state of the pandemic.
Victoria, Australia, a coronavirus hot spot accounting for more than 90 percent of Australia’s 907 coronavirus-related deaths, recorded zero new daily infections and no deaths for the second day in a row on Sunday.
Australia has fared much better at managing the coronavirus pandemic than most countries in the world, recording a total of just over 27,500 infections, or less than a third of the daily new cases seen in the United States on Friday.
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